On 16 December 2014, six gunmen affiliated with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan conducted a terrorist attack on the Army Public School in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. The militants, all of whom were foreign nationals, entered the school and opened fire on school staff and children, killing 149 people including 132 schoolchildren. A rescue operation was launched by the Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group special forces, who killed all six terrorists and rescued 960 people. Pakistan responded to the attacks by lifting its moratorium on the death penalty, intensifying the War in North-West Pakistan and authorizing military courts to try civilians. On 2 December 2015, Pakistan hanged four militants involved in the Peshawar massacre.
About 2014 Peshawar school massacre in brief
On 16 December 2014, six gunmen affiliated with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan conducted a terrorist attack on the Army Public School in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. The militants, all of whom were foreign nationals, entered the school and opened fire on school staff and children, killing 149 people including 132 schoolchildren. A rescue operation was launched by the Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group special forces, who killed all six terrorists and rescued 960 people. Pakistan responded to the attacks by lifting its moratorium on the death penalty, intensifying the War in North-West Pakistan and authorizing military courts to try civilians. On 2 December 2015, Pakistan hanged four militants involved in the Peshawar massacre. The mastermind of the attack, Omar Khorasani, was believed to have been killed in a drone strike in eastern Afghanistan on 18 October 2017, but was added to the U.S State Department’s Rewards for Justice wanted list on March 7, 2018, indicating that he is still alive. The terrorists, bearing automatic weapons and grenades, moved straight toward the auditorium located at the centre of the complex. They opened fire indiscriminately on the children who were gathered there for an assembly on first aid training. According to the Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations, the public relations department of the Pakistani military, Major-General Asim Bajwa, the terrorists did not intend to take any hostages but instead wanted to kill as many pupils as they could. Reports also surfaced that pupils were forced to watch teachers, including principal Tahira Qazi, killed in front of them.
The attack began at around 10: 30 A.M. when seven gunmen, wearing explosive belts entered theSchool after having scaled the walls. The gunmen moved to the administration block and took hostages there. Within 15 minutes, the SSG teams had stormed theSchool and entered the premises from two sides in their heavy armoured vehicles and trucks. The SSG personnel engaged the terrorists, preventing them from going after and killing other remaining teaching staff and students. A search and clearance operation was started to defuse any IEDs planted by the gunmen. The operation took place in the attempt to clear this and rescue the hostages taken by the terrorists. One of the attackers was killed by snipers from the windows and air vents; one of the other three were killed when the commandos stormed the building and rescued the remaining hostages in the process. Seven terrorists were in contact with their handlers during the attack while the terrorists were wearing suicide vests, but soon after the attack they were killed by commandos, including two officers, and two officers. The military offensive, Operation Zarb-e-Azb, was launched in the wake of the 8 June attack on Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, for which the TTP claimed responsibility. In June 2014, a joint military offensive was conducted by Pakistan Armed Forces against various groups in North Waziristan which has been the site of a wave of violence.
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